Post by Motorcity on Mar 27, 2005 11:06:47 GMT -5
Motown Divas Ride To Glory
Girl groups pack bus to put their stamp on history at Rock Hall of Fame
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
(8-22-02)
Girl groups honored
Four Motown groups will be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Supremes
Original members: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin.
Hit records: "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop in the Name of Love" and "Back In My Arms Again."
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Original members: Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford-Holmes and Annette Sterling-Beard.
Hit records: "Heat Wave," "Dancing in the Street," "Nowhere to Run" and "Jimmy Mack."
The Marvelettes
Original members: Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson Schaffner, Wanda Young Rogers, Georgeanna Tillman and Juanita Cowart.
Hit records: "Please, Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess With Bill."
The Velvelettes
Original members: Bertha Barbee McNeal, Carol "Cal" Gill Street, Mildred Gill Arbor, Norma Barbee Fairhurst and Betty Kelley.
Hit records: "Needle in a Haystack" and "Really Saying Something."
CLEVELAND -- If you sense a shimmering glow today coming from the horizon in a southeasterly direction, that's because sequins and bugle beads galore are radiating from the south side of Lake Erie.
Today in this city, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the top girl groups of the '60s will gather to celebrate the unveiling of commemorative collector postage stamps that honor each group.
The unveiling drew an unprecedented concentration of feminine vocal talent; members of the Angels, the Chantels, the Dixie Cups, Patti LaBelle and the Blue Bells, the Cookies, the Crystals and the Ronettes teamed up with Motown's four top girl groups -- the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and the Velvelettes -- to celebrate their stamps with what some consider an over-50 Girls Gone Wild party.
Not every singer is here. Some have died and at least one - Diana Ross, the most famous -- is back in rehab.
Mary Wilson, the only original Supreme in attendance, was the prime mover of this girl group Woodstock; she organized a chartered bus to carry many of her Motown friends here for three days of reminiscing and fun. Wilson flew into the city from her home in New York.
Bertha Barbee McNeal of the Velvelettes, whose biggest hits were "Needle in a Haystack" and "Really Saying Something," couldn't wait to go see her stamp unveiled.
"I'm excited. At first I thought, 'Oh, I'll just throw a bag together,' but then it became more involved."
For a female singer groomed in the Motown factory, there is no such thing as going without makeup or the full monty of clothes and accessories. Casual Fridays are not on the calendar.
So McNeal was busy shopping Tuesday for "girlie" things like a feather boa in just the right shade to match a shimmering girl-group dress.
Worthy recognition
Wilson not only organized the trip, but also called each singer personally to urge her to come. And the Motown women were ecstatic about going to Cleveland. "Most of them don't get as much recognition as Mary or Martha Reeves," says Billy Wilson (no relation to Mary), founder of the Motown Alumni Association. Wilson was the official host, and to his joy, the only male on the Cleveland-
bound bus. "Not many people get a stamp. Whether they get any other recognition, they can carry this around for the rest of their lives." The stamps will be issued by the countries of Nevis, Ghana, Liberia, the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and also will be available to fans and collectors in the United States.
A portion of the proceeds from stamps sold in the United States will benefit Florence Ballard's three daughters -- Lisa, Michelle and Nicole Chapman. She left the Supremes in 1967. Ballard suffered a heart attack and died in 1976 in Detroit, at the age of 32.
McNeal was joined on the bus by fellow Velvelettes Norma Barbee Fairhurst and lead singer Carol "Cal" Street.
Martha Reeves was on board with Vandellas Rosalind Ashford-Holmes and Annette Sterling-Beard. Special guests were Motown etiquette instructor Maxine Powell and Florence Ballard's three daughters.
Marvelettes were first
Of the Marvelettes, Katherine Anderson Schaffner, who is still recovering from a stroke, caught a plane to Cleveland.
"I'm excited about seeing everybody, frankly, because I haven't seen them in 40 years," said Schaffner, who still lives in Inkster, where all the Marvelettes went to high school.
Marvelettes lead singer Gladys Horton won't be in Cleveland. She's still angry the group hasn't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "But I couldn't let that stop me," said Schaffner, "because the stamp will reach far more people than just in the United States. It'll be available abroad, so it's a bigger deal than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
The Marvelettes were Motown's first girl group and nationally their "Please, Mr. Postman" hit No. 1 in the charts, making them a staple of the first Motortown Revues. With follow-up hits like "Beechwood 4-5789," "Playboy," "Don't Mess With Bill" and "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game," they were steady money-earners for Motown, even if they didn't always get the glamor treatment that groups like the Supremes enjoyed. "We were the foundation. We opened the door for everybody else, and we were the ones less thought about," Schaffner said.
As the Motown group filed onto the Cleveland-bound bus, Reeves cracked "This is twice the size of the old Motortown Revue buses."
"And oh honey, there was no air-conditioning back then," Powell said.
Once the bus lurched into motion, motoring down past a waving Esther Gordy Edwards (Motown Music executive director) on its way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Reeves burst into song. "Motown is the swingingest company... Our main goal is to please the world. OK sing!" she instructed.
And they did.
Velvelette Cal Street countered with her own Motown song, warbling "Ain't No Place Like Motown."
"I don't know that song. You didn't teach it to us," Reeves teased.
Then the leader of the Vandellas demonstrated a sultry bump and grind. "This is what Mrs. Powell would never let us do on stage!"
"You don't have to move like that to be a star," Powell sniffed. "Class will turn the head of kings and queens."
This being a diva bus, there were of course pink hair rollers -- on Velvelette Street, who rolled her hair like a champ, then popped a CD into the bus player and hummed along to herself singing "Really Saying Something" as the bus rumbled past the Ohio border.
"I want equal time!" Reeves protested.
In went her CD and we were "Dancing in the Streets" toward Sylvania, Ohio. "What about the Marvelettes and Supremes?" someone said after a while.
Street dug around in her bag and came up with a Supremes anthology. She cranked up "Buttered Popcorn" and turned on the bus microphone.
"Girls," she said, addressing the Ballard daughters in the back of the bus. "Here's a Supremes CD and this song features your mama."
Two songs later, Ross, Wilson and Ballard could be heard cooing "Baby Love."
Reeves tapped her foot, and Powell and the Velvelettes mouthed the words. Ballard's daughter Michelle swayed in her seat to the beat of her mother's voice.
"Play it again!" somebody yelled.
And they did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Divas Do It Up
Girl groups pack bus to put their stamp on history at Rock Hall of Fame
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
(8-22-02)
Girl groups honored
Four Motown groups will be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Supremes
Original members: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Barbara Martin.
Hit records: "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop in the Name of Love" and "Back In My Arms Again."
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Original members: Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford-Holmes and Annette Sterling-Beard.
Hit records: "Heat Wave," "Dancing in the Street," "Nowhere to Run" and "Jimmy Mack."
The Marvelettes
Original members: Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson Schaffner, Wanda Young Rogers, Georgeanna Tillman and Juanita Cowart.
Hit records: "Please, Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess With Bill."
The Velvelettes
Original members: Bertha Barbee McNeal, Carol "Cal" Gill Street, Mildred Gill Arbor, Norma Barbee Fairhurst and Betty Kelley.
Hit records: "Needle in a Haystack" and "Really Saying Something."
CLEVELAND -- If you sense a shimmering glow today coming from the horizon in a southeasterly direction, that's because sequins and bugle beads galore are radiating from the south side of Lake Erie.
Today in this city, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the top girl groups of the '60s will gather to celebrate the unveiling of commemorative collector postage stamps that honor each group.
The unveiling drew an unprecedented concentration of feminine vocal talent; members of the Angels, the Chantels, the Dixie Cups, Patti LaBelle and the Blue Bells, the Cookies, the Crystals and the Ronettes teamed up with Motown's four top girl groups -- the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and the Velvelettes -- to celebrate their stamps with what some consider an over-50 Girls Gone Wild party.
Not every singer is here. Some have died and at least one - Diana Ross, the most famous -- is back in rehab.
Mary Wilson, the only original Supreme in attendance, was the prime mover of this girl group Woodstock; she organized a chartered bus to carry many of her Motown friends here for three days of reminiscing and fun. Wilson flew into the city from her home in New York.
Bertha Barbee McNeal of the Velvelettes, whose biggest hits were "Needle in a Haystack" and "Really Saying Something," couldn't wait to go see her stamp unveiled.
"I'm excited. At first I thought, 'Oh, I'll just throw a bag together,' but then it became more involved."
For a female singer groomed in the Motown factory, there is no such thing as going without makeup or the full monty of clothes and accessories. Casual Fridays are not on the calendar.
So McNeal was busy shopping Tuesday for "girlie" things like a feather boa in just the right shade to match a shimmering girl-group dress.
Worthy recognition
Wilson not only organized the trip, but also called each singer personally to urge her to come. And the Motown women were ecstatic about going to Cleveland. "Most of them don't get as much recognition as Mary or Martha Reeves," says Billy Wilson (no relation to Mary), founder of the Motown Alumni Association. Wilson was the official host, and to his joy, the only male on the Cleveland-
bound bus. "Not many people get a stamp. Whether they get any other recognition, they can carry this around for the rest of their lives." The stamps will be issued by the countries of Nevis, Ghana, Liberia, the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and also will be available to fans and collectors in the United States.
A portion of the proceeds from stamps sold in the United States will benefit Florence Ballard's three daughters -- Lisa, Michelle and Nicole Chapman. She left the Supremes in 1967. Ballard suffered a heart attack and died in 1976 in Detroit, at the age of 32.
McNeal was joined on the bus by fellow Velvelettes Norma Barbee Fairhurst and lead singer Carol "Cal" Street.
Martha Reeves was on board with Vandellas Rosalind Ashford-Holmes and Annette Sterling-Beard. Special guests were Motown etiquette instructor Maxine Powell and Florence Ballard's three daughters.
Marvelettes were first
Of the Marvelettes, Katherine Anderson Schaffner, who is still recovering from a stroke, caught a plane to Cleveland.
"I'm excited about seeing everybody, frankly, because I haven't seen them in 40 years," said Schaffner, who still lives in Inkster, where all the Marvelettes went to high school.
Marvelettes lead singer Gladys Horton won't be in Cleveland. She's still angry the group hasn't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "But I couldn't let that stop me," said Schaffner, "because the stamp will reach far more people than just in the United States. It'll be available abroad, so it's a bigger deal than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
The Marvelettes were Motown's first girl group and nationally their "Please, Mr. Postman" hit No. 1 in the charts, making them a staple of the first Motortown Revues. With follow-up hits like "Beechwood 4-5789," "Playboy," "Don't Mess With Bill" and "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game," they were steady money-earners for Motown, even if they didn't always get the glamor treatment that groups like the Supremes enjoyed. "We were the foundation. We opened the door for everybody else, and we were the ones less thought about," Schaffner said.
As the Motown group filed onto the Cleveland-bound bus, Reeves cracked "This is twice the size of the old Motortown Revue buses."
"And oh honey, there was no air-conditioning back then," Powell said.
Once the bus lurched into motion, motoring down past a waving Esther Gordy Edwards (Motown Music executive director) on its way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Reeves burst into song. "Motown is the swingingest company... Our main goal is to please the world. OK sing!" she instructed.
And they did.
Velvelette Cal Street countered with her own Motown song, warbling "Ain't No Place Like Motown."
"I don't know that song. You didn't teach it to us," Reeves teased.
Then the leader of the Vandellas demonstrated a sultry bump and grind. "This is what Mrs. Powell would never let us do on stage!"
"You don't have to move like that to be a star," Powell sniffed. "Class will turn the head of kings and queens."
This being a diva bus, there were of course pink hair rollers -- on Velvelette Street, who rolled her hair like a champ, then popped a CD into the bus player and hummed along to herself singing "Really Saying Something" as the bus rumbled past the Ohio border.
"I want equal time!" Reeves protested.
In went her CD and we were "Dancing in the Streets" toward Sylvania, Ohio. "What about the Marvelettes and Supremes?" someone said after a while.
Street dug around in her bag and came up with a Supremes anthology. She cranked up "Buttered Popcorn" and turned on the bus microphone.
"Girls," she said, addressing the Ballard daughters in the back of the bus. "Here's a Supremes CD and this song features your mama."
Two songs later, Ross, Wilson and Ballard could be heard cooing "Baby Love."
Reeves tapped her foot, and Powell and the Velvelettes mouthed the words. Ballard's daughter Michelle swayed in her seat to the beat of her mother's voice.
"Play it again!" somebody yelled.
And they did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Divas Do It Up